The Japan Times - Colman kicks off Sundance as film world reels from LA fires

EUR -
AED 4.02547
AFN 78.958383
ALL 99.102869
AMD 431.181955
ANG 1.961978
AOA 1003.890567
ARS 1184.765046
AUD 1.813586
AWG 1.97271
AZN 1.867466
BAM 1.955265
BBD 2.22659
BDT 133.983319
BGN 1.957778
BHD 0.412787
BIF 3277.602688
BMD 1.09595
BND 1.474296
BOB 7.619914
BRL 6.405394
BSD 1.102698
BTN 94.079244
BWP 15.358795
BYN 3.608812
BYR 21480.619234
BZD 2.215094
CAD 1.559263
CDF 3148.664634
CHF 0.944431
CLF 0.02729
CLP 1047.223301
CNY 7.980215
CNH 7.994999
COP 4582.945323
CRC 557.847278
CUC 1.09595
CUP 29.042674
CVE 110.234821
CZK 25.256829
DJF 196.376238
DKK 7.461451
DOP 69.640934
DZD 146.03502
EGP 55.406831
ERN 16.439249
ETB 145.347308
FJD 2.537019
FKP 0.847795
GBP 0.850992
GEL 3.01429
GGP 0.847795
GHS 17.092321
GIP 0.847795
GMD 78.364643
GNF 9543.387299
GTQ 8.51067
GYD 230.706839
HKD 8.520518
HNL 28.214276
HRK 7.531044
HTG 144.290497
HUF 405.95125
IDR 18351.682095
ILS 4.102536
IMP 0.847795
INR 93.739724
IQD 1444.604509
IRR 46139.49374
ISK 144.852129
JEP 0.847795
JMD 173.912388
JOD 0.776923
JPY 161.033451
KES 142.530979
KGS 95.094267
KHR 4414.791359
KMF 493.729615
KPW 986.361205
KRW 1599.550347
KWD 0.337323
KYD 0.918948
KZT 559.11693
LAK 23885.460858
LBP 98806.249733
LKR 326.960488
LRD 220.54962
LSL 21.028443
LTL 3.236056
LVL 0.66293
LYD 5.33354
MAD 10.502325
MDL 19.485665
MGA 5113.600046
MKD 61.518158
MMK 2300.919896
MNT 3846.361639
MOP 8.828083
MRU 43.97796
MUR 48.956499
MVR 16.881727
MWK 1912.176502
MXN 22.397605
MYR 4.862772
MZN 70.042575
NAD 21.028443
NGN 1679.894432
NIO 40.578891
NOK 11.801632
NPR 150.52679
NZD 1.958628
OMR 0.421635
PAB 1.102798
PEN 4.052091
PGK 4.551754
PHP 62.891131
PKR 309.568949
PLN 4.273706
PYG 8840.579707
QAR 4.019799
RON 4.977847
RSD 117.117937
RUB 92.974546
RWF 1589.164933
SAR 4.112539
SBD 9.114284
SCR 15.716697
SDG 658.12198
SEK 10.951065
SGD 1.474715
SHP 0.861245
SLE 24.933268
SLL 22981.523891
SOS 630.227462
SRD 40.162734
STD 22683.951476
SVC 9.649358
SYP 14249.994157
SZL 21.036241
THB 37.713872
TJS 12.003414
TMT 3.835825
TND 3.376876
TOP 2.566829
TRY 41.607525
TTD 7.469955
TWD 36.360884
TZS 2949.992378
UAH 45.388374
UGX 4030.896458
USD 1.09595
UYU 46.647229
UZS 14248.099286
VES 76.89351
VND 28280.988741
VUV 134.896075
WST 3.078778
XAF 655.777467
XAG 0.037037
XAU 0.000361
XCD 2.96186
XDR 0.815577
XOF 655.777467
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.220506
ZAR 20.960317
ZMK 9864.868719
ZMW 30.57363
ZWL 352.89544
  • RBGPF

    69.0200

    69.02

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.68

    -0.56%

  • NGG

    -3.4600

    65.93

    -5.25%

  • AZN

    -5.4600

    68.46

    -7.98%

  • GSK

    -2.4800

    36.53

    -6.79%

  • BTI

    -2.0600

    39.86

    -5.17%

  • BCC

    0.8100

    95.44

    +0.85%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    22.83

    +0.7%

  • RELX

    -3.2800

    48.16

    -6.81%

  • JRI

    -0.8600

    11.96

    -7.19%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    22.29

    +0.13%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    22.71

    +0.22%

  • RIO

    -3.7600

    54.67

    -6.88%

  • VOD

    -0.8700

    8.5

    -10.24%

  • RYCEF

    -1.5500

    8.25

    -18.79%

  • BP

    -2.9600

    28.38

    -10.43%

Colman kicks off Sundance as film world reels from LA fires
Colman kicks off Sundance as film world reels from LA fires / Photo: Neilson Barnard - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Colman kicks off Sundance as film world reels from LA fires

The US film industry's first major gathering since wildfires devastated Los Angeles began Thursday at Sundance, where Olivia Colman and John Lithgow kicked off the indie movie festival under somber circumstances.

Text size:

Hollywood's annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to debut the coming year's top indie films started barely two weeks after blazes killed more than two dozen people and brought the US entertainment capital to a halt.

Festival chiefs spoke at length with filmmakers "who lost homes or were displaced" by the fires before deciding to press ahead, Sundance director Eugene Hernandez told AFP.

Among those were the team behind "Didn't Die," an indie zombie movie about survivors podcasting to an ever-dwindling human population, which was partly shot in the filmmakers's now-destroyed Altadena homes.

"We turned the film in, and a few days later... our homes were lost," director Meera Menon told AFP.

The film's producer and editor, who lived near to Menon and her co-writer husband, also fled their house before it was razed by the fires.

"The four of us really lost everything... our home was our dream home," added a tearful-sounding Menon, who was nonetheless driving up to Utah on Thursday to attend her film's premiere next week.

Also among the 88 features being screened in snowy Park City is "Rebuilding," starring Josh O'Connor as a rancher who loses everything in a wildfire.

"It takes on an added poignance," said Hernandez.

"It's an incredible film, and one that we felt was important to show, based on that spirit of resilience," said Sundance programming director Kim Yutani.

- J-Lo, Cumberbatch -

The big opening night film this year was "Jimpa," in which Colman plays a mother taking her non-binary teen to visit their gay and highly outspoken activist grandfather -- played by Lithgow.

It premiered as new US President Donald Trump said he has made it "official policy of the United States, that there are only two genders, male and female."

Lithgow said it was "extremely important" to begin Sundance with a film fostering acceptance "at this particular historical moment... when hatred is in the air."

Among other festival highlights, Jennifer Lopez brings her first film to Sundance this weekend with glitzy musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

From "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon, the film is based on the Broadway adaptation of Argentine author Manuel Puig's novel.

Lopez plays a silver-screen diva whose life and roles are discussed by two mismatched prisoners as they form an unlikely bond in their grim cell.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in another literary adaptation, "The Thing With Feathers," based on Max Porter's experimental and poetic novel about a grieving husband and two young sons.

Rapper A$AP Rocky and late-night host Conan O'Brien make up the eclectic cast of mystery "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

And "The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri teams up with John Malkovich for thriller "Opus," about a young writer investigating the mysterious disappearance of a legendary pop star.

- Politics -

Among Sundance's documentary selection, which has launched several of the most recent Oscar-winning nonfiction films, politics will feature heavily.

Former New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern is expected in town to promote the behind-the-scenes documentary "Prime Minister."

And two films touching on the Gaza conflict will see their debut, days after the ceasefire agreement with Israel began.

"Coexistence, My Ass!" follows Jewish peace activist-turned-comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi, as she constructs a one-woman show and grapples with the consequences of Israel's military campaign.

"As an activist, I reached 20 people, and in a viral video mocking dictators, I reached 20 million people," she told AFP, admitting she is "anxious" about how the film will be received.

Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis will unveil "All That's Left of You" in a prominent Saturday evening premiere at Sundance's biggest venue.

Sundance runs until February 2.

S.Fujimoto--JT